The Mailbox
by Editor(s)

A LETTER FROM A "CAMPER"

Hi Andrew,
If you would like to make it for "summer camp," you are most welcome. There will be about sixty adults who are all born-again Christians at the conference. Most of us have been born-again for some years but have been struggling to live out our Christian walk, believing that being Christians, we had the power to do so with God’s help, but finding it to be hope-less in reality. We have had to reach a point of desperation in our lives and see that our attempts to live the kind of life God expected of us was far from the mark. We found out the good news that we were not meant to be able to do it and have come to a place where we could see our powerlessness.

From searching through the Bible, we’ve come to see that God intends our powerlessness so that we can turn to Him, not just for help, but for Him to live out our lives. Paul says in Galatians 2:20 that "it is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me." There are other Scriptures, too, that show this reality, but I won’t go into them now. If you’re interested, I’m happy to share more, knowing this truth has made such a difference in my life and has brought a new everyday reality into being a Christian.

We learn to see that every situation comes from God, even the negative ones. He puts the negative, hopeless situations our way so that we will look to Him (alone) to see us through. We have seen ourselves at our conversion as powerless to save ourselves and we need to see it again in our everyday situations. So we now go on and do the next right thing in these situations, knowing that as we do, God is working through us and we can trust Him that this is His perfect situation for us.

Looking forward to seeing you again.

In Christ,
Richard
County Kildare, Ireland

EXPRESSIONS OF APPRECIATION

Greetings in the Body of Christ: Your Intercessor for July-August, 1996, was really sent out in Spirit and Truth. Romans 6:6 and Galatians 2:20 have been really made real in our hearts, "Christ in us, the hope of Glory." For me to live is Christ; this is the rest. His life through me to others. So be it! Have been praying for God Unlimited to be put back into print. The copy-right grant is answer to intercessory prayer.

Two Sisters in Indiana

Greetings:
So pleased to hear you are re-publishing Norman’s books. To God give the glory.

In Christ,
Elaine Indiana

THE WAY OUT

Dear Charlotte,

I am sorry that you have not called me. I hate it for you that Satan has you stuck and is accusing you falsely. (At least some of what you are believing is false.) The way out is so simple–not real easy sometimes, but a lot better than the quicksand you are stuck in.

Again, I want to emphasize what I said to you on the phone–to feel (soul) one way and act (spirit) an-other is not necessarily being "fake." It is the obedience of faith when we let "Spirit" and not "soul" rule the day. If you are not doing that today, you are not "making it"!! You are simply believing your thoughts and feelings and Satan is doing as he pleases by you. This is pleasant for a season because there is no soul-spirit tug of war; so, all seems to be going well. The problem is you can’t do what feels good forever because God won’t have it. He will do what He says in His word–He will act quickly and bring circumstances and consequences you don’t like. He will cause a brokenness you won’t be able to fix. He won’t let Satan steal you, His child, and misuse you forever.

As I rem inded you on the phone, you made your good start by fighting the soul-spirit battle and Spirit Jesus Christ won. I saw you do it–you know you did it!

Of course we latch on to other people’s faith when ours is weak and new. This is how we support and build each other up in the body. We never get past this as a way of Spirit life. When I don’t have faith for a certain thing or at a certain time, I expect another member of the body to have the faith for me until Christ builds me to the faith I need. It’s Christ’s faith anyway and not something I can come up with. The Bible says that "faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God." In other words, it’s my hearing and knowing about God and how trust-worthy He is that gives me what it takes to trust Him. (This is faith.)

You need not spin any longer in the whirlpool you are in. There is a lifeline that can help you. I’m avail-able when you’re interested. This is not about a fellowship, relationship, intercession, etc. It’s about YOU–God’s child who is lost on a never-ending treadmill.

Love,
Page
Boone, NC

FEAR VERSUS FAITH

Dear Pat,
I wanted to tell you of an experience I remembered and what God taught me about it. It has to do with my fear of flying.

As a teenager, I flew a few times with ease. A terrifying crash in 1979 of a DC-9 at O’Hare Airport was the reason I began to fear flying. Hundreds of people died after the engine fell off that airplane during take-off. At about the same time, shortly after our marriage, my husband had to fly to Albuquerque. As I watched his airplane depart, I feared it would fall apart. The wings seemed to bounce and shake more than I expected. I decided to never fly again. Consequently, I made sure that any vacation we planned didn’t require flying.

Over four years ago, I wanted to attend a Zerubbabel conference in Jackson, Mississippi. I knew that if I were going to attend, I would have to fly, so I proceeded to buy a ticket. As the day approached for my flight, I felt more and more fear. I knew that I needed to place my trust in God. My whole fear was about being out of control. I felt safer in my own hands, driving my car or doing any-thing on the ground. To talk myself into it, I said to myself, "I can do this; Christ living through me can do this."

On the day of the flight, as I said goodbye to my family, I started crying. I thought that I might never see them again, and I’d probably die on
this flight. Reluctantly, I broke away from them, walked on the plane and sat in my seat nervously. Then I noticed that I was sitting over the wing section and remembered reading that the wing section was heavily reinforced and therefore the strongest part of an airplane. I felt a bit reassured. Next, a man whom I will call an angel sat next to me. He was a frequent flyer and must have sensed my fears, so he talked to me throughout the flight. I held my breath during the take-off and kept my eyes closed. Just after that, I heard a loud bang and jumped in my seat, but he said calmly, "Oh, that’s just the landing gear going up." As I think about it, I realize that those two situations were God helping me out.

After that specific flight, I’ve flown five or six times. Though I still feel a bit of fear, I truly know that I’m not in charge, God is! If it’s my time to go, who am I to question God. Best of all, I know that I’m in His loving care.

These scripture verses come to mind: Psalm 139:1-12 (NIV) "O Lord, you have searched me and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue you know it completely, O Lord. You hem me in behind and before, you have laid your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I flee from your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there, if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast. If I say, ‘Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,’ even the darkness will not be dark to you, the night will shine like the day, for the darkness is as light to you."

Carol
Nashotah, Wisconsin